In her previous life, Xie Jinzhu, besides her passion for the violent aesthetics of sanda, had learned excellent calligraphy under the influence of her elders. She could distinguish the quality of various types of ink and had even mastered the art of making ink entirely by hand.
Pine soot ink was one of the relatively simpler types.
Xie Jinzhu explained leisurely, “Pine soot is the black smoke produced when pine resin burns or evaporates.”
“Collect this black smoke, then grind, crush, and sift it to remove impurities and ensure smoothness. After that, mix and condense it into solid blocks, and it can be used for writing or painting.”
However, this method of production was relatively crude, and the resulting ink was of ordinary quality, far from comparable to finely crafted, premium products.
But for Xie Jinzhu at the moment, it was sufficient to earn a bit of money temporarily.
Xie Wuni watched Xie Jinzhu preparing to start, her eyes filled with disdain. “If it were really that simple, would this shitty task even fall to you?”
If it were so easy to make, the pine forests covering the mountains would have been cut down long ago. Why would they still be waiting for them?
Xie Wuni wanted to mock a few more times, but when she turned around, she found that Xie Jinzhu had already walked away with a firewood knife in hand. “Xie Jinzhu, you—”
“Xie Jinzhu.”
Xie Jinzhu turned around and said seriously, “Fifth Sister, my name is Xie Jinzhu.”
Xie Xiao Liu and Xie Wuni both fell silent at the same time. Xie Jinzhu smiled faintly. “That’s right, I’ve changed my name.”
“Because…”
“Xie Jinzhu is really tacky!”
Xie Wuni and Xie Xiao Liu were illiterate and didn’t know the difference between Xie Jinzhu and Xie Jinzhu beyond how they were pronounced.
But there had already been enough drama in the family these past two days.
Compared to the fact that the Xie family’s Golden Grandson was actually a daughter, changing a name was nothing at all.
Xie Xiao Liu accepted the name change without much difficulty, but after a long day of work and returning home, she couldn’t help but sigh. “The pine cones have all been picked clean by others.”
After struggling for half a day, they hadn’t found much. The cloth bag they carried held only a handful of pine nuts.
Some of them had even been dug out from tree holes where squirrels had hidden them.
And what Xie Jinzhu had her eye on was neither the pine needles or branches for kindling nor the edible pine nuts, but the pine resin that had solidified on the pine trees.
That stuff was naturally small, and even in the pine forest, the amount that could be found was limited and difficult to collect.
The three of them searched everywhere for a day, barely managing to fill the jars they had brought.
In the end, to bring back something useful, they also bundled an extra load of firewood for kindling.
Xie Wuni, her face dark, threw the pine branches on the ground. She looked around and noticed that only Xie Xiao Qi was left at home, frowning as she asked, “Where’s Eldest Sister?”
“And Second Sister and Third Sister, haven’t they returned yet?”
Xie Dahua had rushed back to her in-laws’ home before dusk yesterday.
But with such a big incident happening at home, it was impossible for them not to know.
Xie Xiao Qi explained that everyone in the family had gone out to work, shaking her head to indicate she didn’t know why her older sisters hadn’t returned. Her gaze met Xie Jinzhu’s raised eyes, and without a word, she turned and went back into the house.
Old Mrs. Xie had woken up for a while after taking her medicine, but she had only wiped away her tears before drifting back into a drowsy sleep.
Now, someone had to stay by her bedside at all times, so she couldn’t attend to matters here.
Xie Wuni couldn’t be bothered to help and dragged Xie Xiao Liu to the river to wash clothes. Soon, only Xie Jinzhu was left alone in the courtyard.
Xie Jinzhu wasn’t surprised by the cold treatment she received. She found an open space and began focusing on the task at hand.
She had gathered the pine branches, but now she needed a container that could withstand high temperatures and collect black smoke.
Xie Jinzhu walked around inside and out, her gaze finally settling on the two large iron pots on the stove.
She ran to the doorway and asked softly, “Seventh Sister, if our family cooks with one pot, is it enough to eat?”
Xie Xiao Qi gave her a puzzled look, her tone indifferent, “When has our cooking pot ever been full?”
With so many people in the household, logically they should eat quite a bit each day.
But to save money, aside from Xie Jinzhu, none of the many mouths in the family had ever truly eaten their fill.
Often, just a thin layer of grain covered the bottom of the pot, and the rest was simmered with wild vegetables and water into a green, oily vegetable soup. Each person got a bowl—just enough to stave off starvation.
Xie Jinzhu sighed, her mood complicated, when she heard Xie Xiao Qi say, “There’s food left in the pot. If you’re hungry, go get it yourself.”
“I’m busy taking care of Grandma now and don’t have time to heat it up for you.”
“No need, no need.”
Xie Jinzhu waved her hands repeatedly, “I’m not hungry, just asking.”
“I’ll be in the yard. Seventh Sister, if you need anything, just call me.”
After saying this, Xie Jinzhu dashed off. Not long after, Xie Xiao Qi heard a crisp clanging sound, followed by the distinct scent of burning pine branches.
Xie Xiao Qi stiffened for a moment, then acted as if she hadn’t noticed, lowering her head to continue her embroidery work.
In the yard, Xie Jinzhu had already set to work on the large iron pot on the stove.
First, she poured out the pine resin she had found from a jar, sifted through it, discarding most of the obvious dead branches and leaves, and then dumped it all into the iron pot.
The pine resin gradually melted under the high heat of the pot. Xie Jinzhu found a bamboo strainer and continuously stirred and skimmed, discarding the fine impurities that floated up, then simmered it over low heat.
While simmering the pine resin, Xie Jinzhu also found some cracked coarse ceramic bowls.
She tied a clever knot with hemp rope around each bowl, tested it to make sure it wouldn’t fall, then set up a suitably high rack in the yard. She hung the bowls upside down by thin ropes, their mouths facing downward.
Beneath the inverted bowls, she arranged a row of empty bowls. When the simmering pine resin in the pot had completely turned into pine oil, she used a ladle to pour the dark, mixed pine oil into the flat-lying bowls.
Xie Jinzhu found the coarse cotton thread Madam Wang used for making shoes, cut pieces about the length of a finger, and immersed them in the pine oil in each bowl, leaving a section exposed to light.
The cotton thread, soaked in pine oil, acted as a wick, producing rows of flickering flames in the bowls and emitting thick black smoke that rose to stain the bottoms of the inverted bowls above.
Xie Jinzhu checked everything repeatedly to ensure there were no issues, then hurried to simmer another batch of pine resin.
The pine resin they had collected from the pine forest was limited, barely enough for two pots before it ran out.
Fortunately, there were plenty of bowls—even more than enough.
Thinking about the original purpose of these bowls, Xie Jinzhu couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of her mouth.
Old Mrs. Xie was convinced that her Golden Grandson was destined to become a prime minister, so she had long ago spent a fortune preparing items for a celebratory feast.
This included bowls for the banquet, prepared in several large baskets—enough for every person in the village to take one for good luck.
But the feast for the top scholar was destined never to happen, and the family had no use for so many bowls. They were just right for collecting pine soot.
Collecting pine soot was a time-consuming process. Xie Jinzhu cleaned the large iron pot, took out the items she had spent a fortune on the day before, and prepared to start simmering.
Just as she placed the items in the pot and was about to add water, a faint voice came from behind her, “What are you doing?”
Xie Jinzhu didn’t even think about it: “To boil glue.”
The woman’s voice seemed to carry a hint of resentment: “What are you using to boil it?”
“Deer antlers!”
Xie Jinzhu took a sharp breath, enduring the burning pain in her hand as she stubbornly poured the water into the pot. Turning her head, she sighed and said, “Second Aunt, you don’t know how expensive these deer antlers are!”
Just for this small amount of deer antlers in the pot, she had spent nearly all the silver she earned from selling books yesterday.
But glue was essential in the ink-making process—it couldn’t be done without it.
Suppressing her heartache, Xie Jinzhu explained, “Deer antlers need to be simmered over low heat for about three days to extract the glue. Wait…”
“I’m asking what you’re using to boil it!”
Second Aunt’s face turned ashen with rage, gritting her teeth as she spat out: “What is this pot for?!”
Xie Jinzhu took a step back from the outburst: “I…”
“This pot is part of my dowry!”
Second Aunt’s eyes widened in despair as she cried out: “Do you know this was meant to be part of Little Six’s dowry?!”
“How dare you ruin something like this!”
“Xie Jinzhu!”
“Do you believe I’ll beat you to death right now just to vent my anger on my pot?!!”